There won’t be an asterisk beside the Regina Pats’ 16th win of the campaign.

Sure, the Edmonton Oil Kings were playing their third game in three days. And, yes, the visitors were shorthanded due to illness, including the notable absence of Trey Fix-Wolansky, the WHL’s second-leading scorer.

That said, the Pats still needed to hold up their end of the bargain against the top team in the Central Division. They did exactly that en route to a 4-0 win before 5,355 fans at the Brandt Centre.

It was the Pats’ first victory in their final meeting of the season with the Oil Kings, who won the first three contests by a combined score of 16-4.

“Guys kind of wanted revenge,” said goalie Max Paddock, who stopped 32 shots for his second shutout of the season. “They’ve had our number all year. It was good to kind of get the last word in the final game against those guys.”

The Oil Kings were forced to scratch five players on Friday and had three more in the lineup who were suffering from a flu bug that has made its way through the dressing room in recent days.

“It’s tough but that’s how it is,” said head coach Brad Lauer, a former Pat. “The guys sucked it up the best they could. We’re not the first team to get it. It’s one of those things. I give Regina credit. They worked hard, they did a lot of good things. At the end I just don’t think we had anything left.”

Meanwhile, the Pats (16-37-1-2) were energized by a golden opportunity to knock off the Oil Kings (31-18-4-4).

“We were a smart young team and we were a hard-working young team,” said head coach Dave Struch. “They were playing three in three nights but we’ve talked all year about not worrying about the opposition and playing the right way all the time. When we get one of those (wins) and we do it right from our goaltender out, it is rewarding and real good for the players.”

Austin Pratt opened the scoring with 8:38 left in the first period when he grabbed an errant shot off the end boards and stuffed it into the open side.

Regina made it 2-0 midway through the second period with a power-play goal from Riley Krane, who banged in a loose puck after Sebastian Streu fired wide from the point.

The home team added a short-handed marker with 5:05 left in the second when Carter Massier forced a turnover at Edmonton’s blue-line. He outraced defenceman Conner McDonald for the loose puck and scored on a breakaway to give his team a 3-0 lead.

That was all for goalie Todd Scott, who was lifted after allowing three goals on 19 shots. His replacement, Dylan Myskiw, allowed one goal on 11 shots the rest of the way.

He was beaten midway through the third period by rookie Garrett Wright, who scored on a one-timer from the left circle.

Paddock took care of the rest in a first-star effort.

“Any time you get a shutout you’re usually not doing it on your own,” said the Pats’ netminder, whose team was outshot 32-30. “You have the help of your teammates blocking shots at key times and just battling to let you see the puck.”

In the end, Struch was happy to call it a team victory.

“They came at us hard in the first period,” he said. “Our goaltender stood his ground and we reciprocated in the second half of the first period. Guys played hard for him. He kept us in there when momentum was in their favour.”

Slowly but surely, the momentum turned.

“When we play the right way for the majority of the night, good things happen for us,” added Struch, whose team has won three of its past five games. “Our penalty kill was good again (5-for-5). Max was a big part of that but it took more than him to score the short-handed goal, block some shots and get the puck down the ice. The power play came up big at a good time in the game (finishing 1-for-4). We did things right without the puck and when we got the puck we made good plays.”

EXTRAS: The Pats wore their special Don Cherry-themed jerseys in support of organ donation … The players’ families were in attendance for the club’s annual family weekend … Regina’s next game is Saturday night in Moose Jaw against the Warriors.

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